The present disclosure generally relates to compositions. More specifically, the present disclosure is directed to ready to drink (“RTD”) beverages.
There are many types of compositions currently on the market. The compositions can be targeted toward certain consumer types, for example, young, elderly, athletic, etc., based on the specific ingredients of the composition. The compositions can also be formulated based on the certain physiological conditions that the compositions are intended to treat or improve, or may be based on desired physical or organoleptic properties of the compositions.
Chocolate beverages can be in liquid or powder forms. The chocolate beverages market is increasing with RTD beverages growing faster than the alternative powder-based beverages. One of the disadvantages of using powder form includes difficulties in dissolving the powder during hydration and the possibility of having a non-homogeneous beverage or a sedimented beverage. RTD chocolate beverages can overcome the issues associated with powder forms. Addition of proteins and stabilizers to liquid beverages generally leads to significant increase of the beverage viscosity which makes the beverage undesirable for consumption, and also may lead to physico-chemical instability issues such as age gelation and phase separation. Among RTD beverages, there are beverages in extended shelf life (“ESL”) and aseptic form. ESL beverages generally have shorter shelf lives than aseptic beverages and also need to be stored at refrigeration temperatures.
A desired chocolate beverage should be shelf-stable during storage without phase separation, creaming, gelation and sedimentation, and retain a constant viscosity over time. Because emulsions and suspensions are thermodynamically unstable, there are challenges in overcoming physico-chemical instability issues associated with dairy-based chocolate RTD beverages (e.g., which contain proteins, carbohydrates, fat, insoluble materials such as cocoa, etc.) for long storage time, especially at elevated temperatures (e.g., about 30° C. or above).
It is desirable to have a high-protein aseptic, shelf-stable RTD dairy-based chocolate beverage. Proteins are essential for the normal growth and development of humans. However, the addition of proteins to beverages can create a number of issues. In particular, for high-protein beverages containing insoluble particles such as cocoa, there are a number of instability issues during storage. Previously tested beverages with high protein levels have had undesirably high viscosity, unpleasant texture and mouthfeel, and syneresis or coagulation. Another issue is the precipitation of the insoluble cocoa particles during storage. These issues increase the longer a beverage is stored, and become more severe at elevated temperatures (such as about 30° C. or above).
These interactions are increased during heat treatment, such as pasteurization or sterilization. Thus, it can be difficult to keep cocoa particles evenly suspended in the beverage without affecting the organoleptic properties of the high-protein beverages, especially during lengthy and/or high temperature storage.